PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2019

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

Property, plant and equipment (“PP&E”), net consisted of the following:



	March 31, 2019			December 30, 2018
	(In thousands)
Land	$	197,988		$	196,769
Buildings	1,711,953			1,697,703
Machinery and equipment	2,667,438			2,618,213
Autos and trucks	61,839			59,195
Construction-in-progress	304,431			269,166
PP&E, gross	4,943,649			4,841,046
Accumulated depreciation	(2,747,943		)	(2,679,344		)
PP&E, net	$	2,195,706		$	2,161,702

The Company recognized depreciation expense of $61.5 million and $60.6 million during the thirteen weeks ended March 31, 2019 and April 1, 2018, respectively.

During the thirteen weeks ended March 31, 2019, Pilgrim's spent $87.9 million on capital projects and transferred $56.1 million of completed projects from construction-in-progress to depreciable assets. Capital expenditures were primarily incurred during the thirteen weeks ended March 31, 2019 to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. During the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2018, the Company spent $76.7 million on capital projects and transferred $43.5 million of completed projects from construction-in-progress to depreciable assets.

During the thirteen weeks ended March 31, 2019, the Company sold miscellaneous equipment for $0.5 million in cash and recognized a net gain on these sales of $0.1 million. During the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2018, the Company sold certain PP&E for cash of $1.0 million and recognized a net loss on these sales of $0.1 million. PP&E sold in the thirteen weeks ended April 1, 2018 included a processing plant in Alabama and miscellaneous equipment.

Management has committed to the sale of miscellaneous equipment that no longer fit into the operating plans of the Company. The Company is actively marketing these assets for immediate sale and believes a sale of each asset can be consummated within the next 12 months. At both March 31, 2019 and December 30, 2018, the Company reported properties and related assets totaling $0.2 million in the line item Assets held for sale on its Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The fair values of the miscellaneous equipment that were classified as assets held for sale as of March 31, 2019 were based on quoted market prices.

The Company has closed or idled various facilities in the U.S. and in the U.K. Neither the Board of Directors nor JBS has determined if it would be in the best interest of the Company to divest any of these idled assets. Management is therefore not certain that it can or will divest any of these assets within one year, is not actively marketing these assets and, accordingly, has not classified them as assets held for sale. The Company continues to depreciate these assets. At March 31, 2019, the carrying amounts of these idled assets totaled $43.4 million based on depreciable value of $154.4 million and accumulated depreciation of $111.0 million.

At March 31, 2019, the Company assessed if events or changes in circumstances indicated that the aggregate carrying amount of its property, plant and equipment held for use might not be recoverable. There were no indicators present that required the Company to test the recoverability of the aggregate carrying amount of its property, plant and equipment held for use at that date.